Retirement & Taxes
Long-term financial planning, retirement accounts, government benefits, tax law, and IRS rules. Covers the intersection of policy and personal finance that affects how people save, invest, and plan ahead.
Latest in Retirement & Taxes
Families can qualify for an earned-income tax credit worth up to $8,231 in 2026
Working families can claim an earned income tax credit worth as much as $8,231 for the 2026 tax year, a refundable credit large enough to...
The IRS raised 2026 tax brackets for inflation, so a modest raise may not push you into a higher rate
The IRS has raised its income tax brackets for 2026 to account for inflation, nudging the income thresholds for every rate upward so that a...
Medicare covers a yearly wellness visit at no cost, but mistaking it for a full physical can bring a surprise bill
Medicare covers a yearly wellness visit at no charge, one of the most useful free benefits in Part B, yet the word “wellness” hides a...
Medicare’s Part D deductible climbs to $700 in 2027, the amount you pay before drug coverage begins
Medicare’s standard Part D drug deductible is set to rise to $700 in 2027, up from $615 in 2026, meaning enrollees on the standard benefit...
Some Medicare Advantage plans refund part of your $202.90 Part B premium, putting cash back in your check
The standard Medicare Part B premium reached $202.90 a month in 2026, and for most enrollees that amount is subtracted from the Social Security payment...
Medicare’s 2027 plan-change notices land by September 30, and ignoring yours can lock you into a costlier plan
Sometime before September 30, a plain envelope from a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan reaches millions of mailboxes and gets set aside unopened. Inside...
Full retirement age has reached 67, and claiming at 62 now locks in a check about 30% smaller for life
Full retirement age has finished its long climb to 67. For everyone born in 1960 or later, the age at which Social Security pays a...
Divorced spouses married at least 10 years can claim up to half an ex’s Social Security, with no hit to the ex
A marriage that ended decades ago can still pay a monthly Social Security check. A divorced person who was married at least 10 years can...
A child can collect Social Security on a retired, disabled, or deceased parent’s record
Social Security lives in most people’s minds as a retirement check, but a substantial share of its payments go to children. When a parent begins...
Rolling a 401(k) straight into an IRA avoids the automatic 20% tax withholding a payout check triggers
The moment a departing employee asks for a 401(k) balance to be paid out as a check, the government takes a cut before the money...
Filing a tax extension buys until October 15, and disaster-area filers in several states get even longer
Anyone who asked the IRS for more time to file this spring is now running down the clock on the extra months it bought. A...
About 2 million seniors skip $11.4 billion in Medicare Extra Help drug savings yearly
An estimated two million older Americans who qualify for Medicare’s Extra Help program never enroll in it, and the savings they leave unclaimed add up...
A retiree hit with a high Medicare premium after a one-time income spike can appeal it with Form SSA-44
A retiree whose Medicare premium jumps after a single unusual year of income, a home sale, a large Roth conversion, or the year work finally...
A surviving spouse who waits until survivor full retirement age can collect 100% of a late partner’s check
A surviving spouse who waits until reaching survivor full retirement age can collect the deceased partner’s Social Security benefit in full, the entire amount the...
Medicare’s out-of-pocket drug cap drops to $2,400 in 2027, then covered prescriptions cost nothing
Medicare’s cap on out-of-pocket prescription costs, a limit that did not exist a few years ago, brings the ceiling on covered drugs down to $2,400...
As Medicare Advantage insurers drop more 2027 plans, being cut guarantees you the right to buy any Medigap policy
Medicare Advantage insurers are pruning their 2027 lineups, and for the members caught in the cuts, the bad news comes wrapped around a rare piece...
A 3.6% Social Security raise would add about $75 a month next year, the biggest increase since 2023
Social Security’s yearly raise for 2027 is shaping up to be the largest in years. After the July inflation report, the Senior Citizens League estimates...
A donor-advised fund lets you claim a big charitable deduction now and give the money to charities later
A donor-advised fund lets a giver take a full charitable tax deduction in the year money goes into the account, even when the actual gifts...
About 205,000 workers have been laid off in 2026, and a severance check can be rolled into an IRA to defer taxes
With roughly 205,000 American workers laid off in 2026 as automation reshapes office work, a severance check has become a rare planning opportunity as much...
A cash-value life insurance policy can be borrowed against tax-free while you are still alive
A permanent life insurance policy that has built up cash value can be tapped through a loan without generating a tax bill, a feature that...